U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Advanced Manufacturing Office

OIT Requests $171 Million for FY 2000

February 1, 1999

FY 2001 Budget in Brief

PDF 2,171 KB

Office of Industrial Technologies

Increase Productivity with Cleaner Industrial Processes for the 21st Century
Efficient use of energy by industry is critical to the nation's productivity. Three-fourths of the energy consumed by the U.S. industrial sector goes to the pulp and paper, primary metals, chemical, petroleum, glass, mining, and agricultural industries. Virtually every manufacturing process uses more energy than is necessary. In addition, these industries generate about three fourths of industrial waste and pollution. Advanced technologies improve industrial productivity by lowering energy costs, providing innovative manufacturing methods, and reducing waste and emissions.

The EERE Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) works with energy-intensive industries to improve energy efficiency, environmental performance and productivity. OIT's goal for 2010 is to reduce industrial energy use per unit of output by 25 percent. In partnership with industry groups, we are developing new technologies for heat recovery, energy utilization, and industrial waste management and making process improvements for manufacturing pulp and paper, steel, and chemicals. Applied research in combustion, biotechnology, advanced materials, and heat transfer is providing the foundation for future advances.

Ongoing Programs

Industries of the Future (Specific)our Industries of the Future program aligns its resources with our principal customerso4he energy- and waste-intensive industries that have developed an industry-wide consensus on improving energy and environmental performance. Industries of the Future partnerships provide the catalyst for tapping into America's vast capabilities in R&D for the development and deployment of advanced energy and material-efficient technologies.

The Industry of the Future process begins with the development of an industry-wide vision statement. This vision projects the changes needed over a 20-25 year period for the industry to remain competitive through improved energy efficiency and environmental performance. Industry of the Future partners then prepare a technology roadmap that defines the technologies to be pursued in cooperative research and development aimed at realizing the vision. Industries of the Future include:

• Forest Products: OIT is developing energy efficient technologies to reduce emissions and reuse effluents in the forest products industry and reduce energy use. Technologies identified in the roadmap "Agenda 2020" will be researched to meet 2020 goals such as reducing water effluent levels by 35 percent from 1991 levels, reducing purchased electricity use to zero, and by 2020 to increasing recovered paper utilization to over 50 percent.
• Steel: OIT is conducting research that will improve performance of the major energy using components in the ironmaking and steelmaking processes. Improved design, new sensing and control systems, more efficient burners, increased use of net shape casting processes, better use of byproducts to reduce use of virgin materials, and changes in operational practices resulting from this research will increase efficiency, reduce emissions (especially NOx and carbon dioxide), and lower costs. By 2010, goals are to reduce overall energy use by almost 20 percent per ton of steel produced.
• Aluminum: An accelerated research program will be initiated for the development and implementation of an advanced technology with the potential to reduce energy consumption by 27 percent from current best practices, and greenhouse gas emissions by 58 percent from a 2000 baseline. Development of improved anode and cathode materials for inert anode technology is the focus of the program. Implementation of an advanced cell of this kind would be the most significant advancement in aluminum production technology since the development of the Hall-Heroult process in 1886. Saltcake recycling will be demonstrated at pilot-plant scale and R&D will be conducted to develop improved sensors and controls for aluminum smelting.
• Metal Casting: OIT is working with more than 21 universities and research organizations performing research through the Metal Casting Industry of the Future Research Program to achieve a 10 percent combined yield increase and scrap reduction by 2020 resulting in a 10 percent energy savings by 2020. The program is developing advanced techniques, new tools and sensors to improve the energy efficiency of casting processes. Research in these areas includes the development of advanced lost foam technology and binders, semi-solid metals processing for models, material property characterization and high volume low weight castings. This research is directed to improve metal cleanliness, reduce casting defects, increase energy efficiency, increase productivity and increase U.S. competitiveness of the metal casting industry.
• Glass: To meet future challenges of the glass industry (which includes flat glass, container glass, fiberglass and specialty glass) OIT 2020 goals are to reduce energy use by about 25 percent, production costs and air and water emissions by at least 20 percent as well as recycling and recovering of 100 percent of in-process production wastes and available post-consumer glass. Research is targeted to furnace refractory materials, use of microwaves and ultrasonic waves for controlling glass shape and other critical process variables, high-temperature sensors for control of production processes. Research is directed toward increasing energy efficiency of production, environmental protection, recycling and development of innovative uses for glass.
• Chemicals: OIT is working to achieve by 2020 a 30 percent reduction per pound of chemicals produced in energy consumption, materials used, water consumption, and pollutant and toxic dispersion. Research will be targeted to critical areas identified in industry roadmaps in areas including separations, materials technology and materials of construction, catalysis, and alternative synthetic pathways in the chemical industry. Industry-lab consortium projects will be continued in computational fluid dynamics, demonstration of new fabric-like electrode for chlor-alkali production to reduce electricity consumption and the associated carbon dioxide emissions, development of a new production pathway for succinic acid from an inexpensive wood-based material, and a new membrane process to recover ethylene and propylene more efficiently.
• Petroleum: OIT is working by 2020 to improve manufacturing efficiency by 10 percent and reduce combustion and fugitive emissions by 50 percent. Research will be targeted toward critical industry needs identified in the petroleum vision and roadmap now in preparation. Examples of possible projects include biocatalytic desulfurization of gasoline, and an advanced fluid cracking model.
• Mining: Research is directed toward a goal of saving 10 percent of the energy used to crush a short ton of rock. The mining initiative is focused on safe and efficient technologies to benefit the breadth of the industry. Research will include new technologies for underground imaging, minerals separations, and process modeling to increase productivity, save energy and reduce environmental disturbances.
• Agriculture: OIT will target research and development which can achieve a five-fold increase in the percentage of basic chemical building blocks derived from plant/crop based renewables by 2020. Projects will focus on some of the top priorities identified in its industry partners' roadmap for renewable bioproducts, specifically targeting the areas of processing and utilization of homegrown crops, trees, and agricultural wastes as biomass resources for the production of potentially a huge range of consumer goods, such as paints, plastics and adhesives. A broad-based coalition from the American agricultural, forestry and chemical communities supports the goal of winning 10 percent of the market share of industrial feedstocks by 2020. The "Renewables Vision 2020" effort will be integrated with other programs in government, industry and academia for increased use of biomass for electricity generation, transportation fuels, and industrial and chemical products under the President's new Bioenergy initiative.
• Supporting Industries: OIT will issue competitive solicitations to industries which are critical to making significant energy and cost savings in Industries of the Future. Examples of supporting industries are forging and heat treating which directly support steel and aluminum industries.

Industries of the Future (Crosscutting)ohe Industries of the Future-Crosscutting program encompasses research and development aimed at crosscutting technologies that are applicable to all energy-intensive industries and provides integrated technical and financial assistance to advance the deployment of highly efficient and productive technologies. The objective is to work with Industries of the Future partners and suppliers to conduct cost-shared R&D to develop crosscutting and enabling technologies which have applications across all of the vision industries, and to provide the tools and technical assistance industry needs to speed the implementation of energy efficient, clean manufacturing technologies.

• Enabling Materials, Engineered Ceramics/CFCCs: The program addresses the critical technology challenges partners face for developing: 1) new, advanced ceramic composites which are resistant to heat, corrosion, erosion and chemical activity but are also tough and resistant to thermal shocks. 2) advanced industrial materials such as intermetallic alloys, and membranes for separation processes which can reduce energy use, lower emissions, increase component life, optimize process operating conditions, and reduce down time; 3) high-efficiency, clean combustion technology that can produce uniform, high-quality end products at high production rates reducing fuel consumption by 20% and criteria pollution emissions by up to 90 percent by 2020; and 4) sensors/control systems that can operate in high temperatures and harsh environments while increasing process efficiency and are critical to introducing many new processes in industry. As part of the President's Bioenergy Initiative in cooperation with industry and other EERE offices, OIT will develop biomass and black liquor gasification technologies which have a significant positive impact on climate change while improving the energy efficiency of pulping processes.
  
  
• Distributed Generation: The program seeks to develop 1) new high-efficiency and very low emissions industrial power/cogeneration systems, including industrial-scale turbines, microturbines, and reciprocating engines; and 2) industrial distributed generation systems, including combined heat and power technology. By 2020, microturbines can reach 40 percent efficiency and reciprocating engines can reach 50 percent efficiency with consequent emissions reductions providing significantly energy savings and emissions reductions for a range of industrial power applications. The Advanced Turbine System program will be completed.
  
  
• Financial Assistance: The goal of OIT's integrated delivery of financial assistance services which includes the Inventions and Innovation Program and the NICE3 Program, is to 1) provide critical financial assistance to speed the development of new energy efficient technologies; and 2) leverage industry and other resources to demonstrate and promote the adoption of clean, energy-efficient industrial technology. Grants are focused on technologies which can make significant energy savings, productivity improvements and emissions reductions in Industries of the Future.